You should know

tank top: target   pants: walmart   wedges: old navy

that this outfit picture is from two weeks ago, so if you think my belly is shrinking it most definitely is not.  But I am not about to let an outfit picture go to waste these days. 

that you should not tell me that I look like a pumpkin in this picture.  Already noted. 

that I don't always wash my fruit before I eat it.   that I would happily eat breakfast foods for every meal.  Especially yogurt, fruit and granola. 
that I spell the words physical and supposed wrong the first time about 99% of the time.  Thank goodness for spell check. 
that I use Ponds moisturizing lotion for my face every night and my sister makes fun of me and calls me a grandma.  My mom and grandma both do use it so I guess she is kind of right. 
that my thumbs must be too fat because whenever I leave comments on instagram or text and mean to put multiple exclamation points it comes out like this !***

that I sat outside one day last week while my niece and nephew played in their little pool and burnt my stomach in a real attractive circle just on the top of my belly.  
Lucky for you I didn't take a picture of it.  

that I still kind of fear that my baby will come out and be a boy, which would definitely be a problem since I'd have to dress him in all these girl clothes. 

Girls' Brunch

dress: discovery ($10)   sandals: charming charlie

First of all thank you to those that have been voting for me in this contest! I am in 5th place and want to stay there! The contest ends tomorrow so you still have time to vote again here! Thank you SOOO much!

I definitely don't need an excuse to invite people over and eat my favorite meal of the day, but thanks to Gevalia coffee I had a great reason to have my family over for brunch last week.  And we thought it'd be fun to just have the girls! I got to shop at a Safeway store for my breakfast foods and picked out the Chocolate Mocha and House Blend (decaf) coffee.  Because I don't really drink much caffeine these days I mixed them half and half and it was delicious.  I usually don't get flavored coffee but think I may have to start now! It went perfect with our brunch, but would also be great with dessert.  Next time I'm going to try out their K-Cups, as that is what we've been using more often than our coffee maker. 

For breakfast I "made" (the best and easiest kind of preparing, right?) a yogurt parfait bar with strawberry and vanilla yogurt, plus grapes, blueberries, strawberries and granola to mix in.  I have wanted to try making waffles out of cinnamon rolls for awhile and they turned out pretty good.  And do I even mention that I ate the rest of those donuts that didn't get eaten?

These girls were a big fan of all of it too! I'm pretty sure I'd be satisfied eating this meal every day. (Do you like how we all dressed patriotic? Definitely not planned!)

Could my niece's pigtails be any cuter?

Since this was a "girls' brunch," Travis spent some time in the basement working with Chris.  He was so excited to "work" with his Uncle Chris.  He even made him a little name tag. 

Thanks to an easy shopping experience at Safeway and delicious coffee to serve, this was quite the simple get together to host.  Now if only this coffee drinking, breakfast eating, and spending time with my favorite woman could happen on a more regular basis I would be one happy girl!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Showers, shoppers, and statement necklaces

Last weekend Chris' side of the family threw me a wonderful baby shower. It was another one of those surreal moments where I kept reminding myself that this was for our baby!  We were so lucky to be blessed with lots of gifts for our baby girl and couldn't be more thankful.  

I did warn you that I'd mention this again because I'd LOVE to be one of the top 5 in this contest for expert shoppers and am currently number six.  If you already voted you can vote again and all you have to do is click on the love it button here!  Thank you so much!

It's not a secret that I love statement necklaces and know that I am not alone.  Which is why I'm excited to introduce you to a blogger who has a very talented shop full of beautiful necklaces, like this one, which I got in the mail yesterday and can't wait to wear it!!  Not only is she a talented shop owner, but also a mom of two adorable boys that were adopted this last year.  

I'm excited to introduce you to Kelly from Curated by Kelly . . . .

Hello, For Lauren and Lauren friends! I am Kelly and you can find me on my blog, Curated by Kelly, or in my shop by the same name.


I started the shop because I have a little thing for statement necklaces. As in, I own more than 50 of them! I just love how they can make a plain and ordinary outfit truly spectacular. It's fun to curate the collection in the shop and it's even more fun to see how everyone styles their purchases. We do a lot of fun giveaways and steals too!


I also write on my blog for fun. We recently adopted our two boys so I'm an "instant mom." I blog about my favorite parenting finds, adoption, fashion and our every day life. Each Friday I round up my Weekly Favorites. My Weekly Favorites cover anything and everything from Kate Spade shop tours to serious articles.


I hope you'll stop by and say hello!

Thank you so much Kelly!  Definitely go check out her blog and her shop - especially this one and this one which are my favorite!

maternity pictures

A week ago a good friend of mine took maternity pictures for us and I am so thankful for her! We decided to not pay for professional pictures and save that for our newborn ones and I feel like we still got professional looking pictures.  There are so many I love so be prepared for a little photo overload!

I LOVE these pictures with these booties because they were the first thing we bought for our baby and used them in our baby announcement. 

      

I can't wait to show our little girl these pictures some day and tell her how unbelievably excited we were to meet her.  I can't believe she will be here in less than 5 weeks!

perspective

dress: old navy (worn here)

The other day I was walking into Target and walked passed someone who looked at my belly, which seems to be happening more and more these days as it's kind of hard to miss.  
I wondered what this woman thought when she saw me and was reminded how I used to feel when I walked by pregnant woman.  I'd see their bellies and long for that to be me.  I'd think that they had no idea how lucky they were to be pregnant.  They had no idea what a gift it was to be having a baby. That I was trying so hard and going through so much to be pregnant and that I deserved to have a baby.  
It kind of makes me want to wear a sign now that says "I know how lucky I am and want this baby more than anything."
It made me think about what other people's signs may say.  I think of some of my friends who have gone through some incredibly hard times.  I think of how people may treat them differently if they knew what they had been or were going through. 
I think about how there has to be people that I walk passed that just lost a love one, are dealing with health issues, infertility, broken relationships or even just a really terrible day.  
I think of how easy it is to judge others when we walk by them.  To look at things they have or don't have and feel as though you deserve it more or you would handle it differently.  
It was a reminder that I don't know others' stories.  I don't know their brokenness or their hopes.  I don't know what they are dealing with on a daily basis.  I don't know what their sign would say. 
It was a reminder to smile at others.  To remember that everyone is dealing with their own battles.  To treat them with love.  And to be so thankful for the blessings that God has given me.